As Fate Would Have It
by SushiChica
Summary: [RaeRob][ONESHOT][Challenge Fic][Rated T for excessive sexual banter and language][For anyone with an open mind about pairings][Just read the fic, God, because this summary is getting long][Enjoy!]


Didn't you love the summary? Totally informative, right? Well, to make some sense out of it, this oneshot is my first, amateur attempt at writing RaeRob in light of the recent pairing wars which seem to have erupted on the Teen Titans forums. Some of the arguments are simply ridiculous, but there are those that are downright brutal as well. In any case, this is a piece in response to the Behind Enemy Lines challenge that 'the Writer you fools' presented. I was actually surprised at how easy (and long) this oneshot was. I'm still a staunch RobStar RaeBB supporter, but this was a fun fic to do. To those with an open mind, and even those without, I truly hope you enjoy this oneshot. I put a lot of work into it, and I think I'm actually pleased with the results.

Oh, a small side note...Raven is Raven, Starfire is Kori (and she talks...normally), Dick is Robin, Gar Logan is Beast Boy, Victor Stone is Cyborg, Xander Red is Red X, Kristine Mothella is Kitten, and Babs Gordon is Batgirl/Oracle/Babs Gordon. Got it everyone? Good.

**Dedication:** To SweetNCrazieSugarmuffin, for being SUCH a kickass RaeRob friend on the forums. She's come to my rescue multiple times on the boards, and I thank her for that. Yippee for different opinions, yes? -laughs- This one's for you, chica.

**Disclaimer:** Never have, never will, never really want to. Too much work.

* * *

It was 8:00 AM, and Raven Roth was not happy.

Surprisingly, her bad mood was not due to such trivial matters as the obscene hour her mother had woken her up at (5 AM), the looming Physics and Shakespearian Lit tests whose notes she had scarcely glanced through until this morning, or her severe lack of breakfast due to said procrastinated study. No, these things were practically ritual to the dark girl and barely fazed her this particular (let alone any other) morning, and could be though of as almost laughable as opposed to the much more formidable opponent that seemed to stare Raven straight in the eyes. Even having to take the bus to school for the first time…_ever_ because her car had broken down seemed more comforting than her self-set task of the day. What was this…this _thing_ that had Miss Roth so particularly agitated this morning?

Why, just a little thing called Spring Fling.

Raven shuddered as she trudged down the street. _Spring Fling._ The name was preppy to the point of indecency. But, then, that did tend to happen when the dance committee was comprised of mainly cheerleaders.

First of all, whatever demon had possessed Raven long enough for her to be coerced into attending such a highly overrated school event deserved to be sent to the deepest pit of hell imaginable. Honestly, Raven's demeanor didn't exactly scream "_school spirit._" But there had been something in her best friend Kori Anders' eyes that had allowed the dark girl to grumble and agree to show up despite her many reservations.

Kori had been Raven's best friend since, well, forever. They'd grown up in the same neighborhood when they were young, taken the same ballet classes (although Raven had stormed out after about six weeks of relentless, pliet-related torture and Starfire had stuck with it for a good five years before she, too, quit), attended the same take-kwan-do studio (where they'd made excellent sparring partners), and wound up at the same middle and high schools. So when the pretty auburn haired girl had begged and pleaded for her best friend to at least show face at the dance so disturbingly entitled Spring Fling, there was little doubt in Raven's mind that one way or another, she'd end up going. There was only one thought in her mind that kept her from breaking her promise to Kori, one motivation that might just make the whole thing worthwhile.

At this dance, she was going got make Dick Grayson wish he'd never been born.

Or at least make him severely regret breaking up with her at the last school semi-formal.

Dick Grayson was, to say the least, a complicated matter in her life. They'd started out as friends in freshman year, which soon turned to romantic interest about midway through sophomore year. They'd begun dating on and off until summer vacation, when they'd actually made it rather official. Their relationship had ended abruptly, however, one night early in their junior year.

The night of the Homecoming Dance.

Raven later found out that the impromptu breakup had been spurned by the news that Babs Gordon, some lost love of Dick's from Gothem City, would be transferring to their Jump City school district within the week and he wanted to be completely available for her. The dark girl had never quite forgiven, nor gotten over Dick. Kori had repeatedly attempted to console her friend by reminding her that there were bigger, better fish in the gigantic pond of Jump City High, (such as the so called _divine_ Xander Red, coincidentally Dick Grayson's half brother, who Kori could never seem to completely shut up about) and that Raven shouldn't limit herself to just one, single idiot who dumped her for a bimbo like Babs Gordon. Raven desperately wanted to believe her best friend, but it just didn't seem to be working. Getting over Dick was like getting over a bad flu. The virus was gone, but that lingering feeling was still there, buried deep within her and seemingly surfacing whenever she'd least expect it. In a fraught attempt to liberate herself from her feelings and still retain the scraps of her pride, Raven had turned completely hostile on him, snapping whenever he spoke to her…if he was lucky enough to get a response out of her at all.

Now, five months after the breakup, Raven was ready to demolish any tiny lasting bits of feeling she'd ever had for him by attending the Spring Fling, gag-worth though it was, with an (in Kori's immortal words) 'absolutely divine' date, perhaps get away with a little PDA, then go home satisfied with herself for the first time in months. The only problem was she had absolutely no idea of who she was going to ask (or get to ask her), and the dance was in exactly 12 hours. Now, standing awkwardly at the bust stop with a few people she recognized from classes but had never spoken to, Raven doubted that her morning could get any worse.

"…Raven?" The dark girl looked up at the sound of her name, but groaned audibly when she saw who had said it. Apparently, she had been wrong. The morning could get worse. A whole lot worse. Summoning the proper venom to her voice, Raven spat the offending party one of her usual sarcastic remarks.

"Oh. It's you. Where's your , still knocked out after the job you did on her last night? I'm sure she enjoyed it." Raven had said it before she could shut her mouth and rethink her words. She had sounded heinously jealous, and the dark girl was now kicking herself for it.

"Hmm…an unprovoked comment. I see we're starting early today Miss Roth. At least you're not freezing me out as you usually do. To what reason do I owe the pleasure?" Over the months, Dick Grayson had developed a keen interest in the game of matching wits with the girl he'd thrown away. Their exchange was nothing new, but it was drawing the eyes of fellow bus-waitees nevertheless. If there was one thing that truly infuriated Raven, it was the way Dick continued to flirt with her despite their current status.

"You entered my airspace. You attempted communication. I consider that a breach of tolerance and thus I have every right to attack." Raven's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Still and Ice Queen since we last spoke, eh?" Dick laughed.

"Screw you." The dark girl found it even more annoying that though to her the entire exchange was exasperating, Mr. Grayson seemed to think of it as one big joke.

"Screw you?" Dick's laughter had ceased but the smirk remained. "How undeniably original." Raven felt her jaw clench. "So, Ice Queen, how is it that you're gracing us with your presence at the humble bus stop instead of driving yourself to school in your grand chariot as you usually do?"

"It's just a damn Mercedes that my dad bought it for my as a stupid peace offering to make up for not being in town for my birthday _again_, okay? It broke down yesterday afternoon and I had to send it to the shop to get it fixed. God, you are such an ass sometimes."

"Sometimes?" Dick feigned concern. "You mean I'm not an ass all the time?"

"Excuse me for trying to ease your pain by not completely puncturing your grossly swelled ego."

"You took the time to consider my pain? I had no idea you cared so much."

"Don't flatter yourself, _Grayson_."

"I wouldn't dream of it, _Roth_." Raven's eyes flashed at the use of her last name.

"Why can't you just back off for once?" Dick paused for a moment, then smiled again.

"Because it's fun to see you flustered."

"_I'm not flustered-_"

"The bus is here, you idiots!" A random boy from the group that had been waiting shouted, tramping aboard and rolling his eyes. Raven wanted to throw herself in front of the large yellow vehicle. This was going to be a long day, she could already tell.

* * *

"So I heard about your little love spat with Dick this morning." Kori had seemingly appeared out of nowhere, startling Raven half to death before she'd even gotten her books for her third period Algebra II class.

"Good morning to you too," she grumbled, still annoyed for allowing Dick to bait her the way he often did. "Where'd you hear that from?"

"Kristine Mothella, who else? It's not like she and her posse were actually, God forbid, _participating_ in the chem experiment we did today."

"Ugh, what else is new?"

"Well…Xander's looking positively-"

"It was a rhetorical question, Kor. And besides, the fact that Xander Red is a god in your eyes is not exactly new."

"Don't care. You're gonna hear it anyways-" A loud ringing noise flooded the long, crowded hallway and Kori clicked her tongue impatiently. "Looks like you were saved by the ever merciful third period bell."

"I wouldn't be so sure. I'd rather listen to you rave about Xander than sit through an entire 43 minute class period in the same room as Dick." Raven slammed her locker door shut and the two friends prepared to part ways.

"Just try not to make out."

"…Shut up."

* * *

Besides Dick, math seemed to have become the bane of Raven's life since she'd started high school. No matter how many times she went over the concepts, she simply couldn't figure out how _x_ could possibly -13 and why anyone really cared what _x_ equaled at all. It just seemed unbelievably pointless to her. As if she'd be drawing parabolas for the rest of her life. Unfortunately, her teacher saw it a different way and, due to the large red 'F' that seemed to plague every test that Raven got back, set up a tutor for the dark girl. Someone good at math. Someone who had a free during that particular class period. Someone who wouldn't mind taking 43 minutes out of his day to tutor and ultimately further irritate Raven.

Someone like Dick Grayson.

Raven had begged and pleaded and promised to do better, but her teacher simply refused to let up. Finally, the dark girl simply submitted to the fact that third period Algebra II had been converted into her own personal hell hole until the following year, where the teacher would hopefully have more sense to pair her with a 'tutor' like Dick Grayson. Of course, this would all be based on whether or not she'd actually pass the class she was currently in.

She sauntered into the room and took her usual seat in the back, noticing almost instantaneously that Dick was absent from his usual leaning place on the wall behind her desk. It was odd, because he usually liked to get there early to taunt the poor girl about being late. The tardy bell rung, however, and still no Dick. Strange. Not that volunteer tutors were required to be at the class on time; they could come and go as their schedules saw fit. However, it was not likely that Dick would ever miss a chance to help Raven along the way to insanity. Class began with a short problem set reviewing the previous night's homework. Raven struggled with it for a few moments before giving up on the second problem.

"_X is fifty four_," a familiar voice whispered in her ear. There was no point in turning to see who was there; it was obviously Dick. How he'd gotten behind her without being seen, however, was anyone's guess. Raven attempted to suppress the shivers that crawled up her spine at the sound of his voice in her ear but failed miserably. Instead, she lamely scribbled down the answer he'd provided and spat what she hoped was a pride salvaging sting over her shoulder.

"You're late." Not quite as pride-salvaging as she'd wished.

"You'll live."

"Busy banging your girlfriend again?"

"Why? You jealous I'm banging her and not you?"

"_WHAT-?_" Raven nearly jumped out of her seat at the point-blank accusation, but her exclamation alone was enough to draw every set of eyes in the room, including the teacher's.

"Miss Roth, since you seem to be rather…invigorated this morning, why don't you start us off with the first three answers in our problem set?" Raven visibly flushed, suddenly very aware that she'd only completed the first two problems, and only number one on her own.

"Er…_x_ is 12…_x_ is 54…and…um…_x_ is…uh…-2?" Raven had chosen a number at random for her third answer, and from her teacher's disapproving look she could tell that out of an infinite amount of possibilities, the one she'd selected had been incorrect. As the teacher began to go over just why Raven's answer practically screamed 'incorrect,' Dick leaned over to whisper yet again in her ear.

"Geez, you didn't have to have a heart attack. I was just kidding. I'm not banging anyone." Raven glowered at his words.

"I wouldn't put it past you."

"For the record, _x_ was 18 and a half."

"Go to hell."

"I'd say the same to you, but I think you're already there."

"If only you knew, Grayson. If only you knew."

* * *

"Oh my God, he actually _said _that?" Kori's eyebrows were raised so high that they threatened to leave her forehead. The plastic container in her hands, brimming full of pasta and parmesan cheese, teetered unstably.

"Yep. Asked me if I was jealous that he was sleeping with Babs instead of me." Raven took a bite of her sandwich and a sip of Arizona Green Tea.

"Well…you've never actually _slept_ with him, have you?" The auburn haired girl said it lightly, devouring another forkful of pasta, but Raven's silence made her freeze. "You…you…"

"…Yeah."

"Oh my God. Oh my freaking God. You screwed Dick?"

"It sounds a thousand times worse when you say it like that. Not that his nickname isn't fitting or anything…"

"_Oh my God!_" Kori had completely forgotten about her food now. "When did this happen and why did you not tell me?"

"Beginning of summer vacation. Last year." Raven sighed. "And…I didn't want to like…make it public or anything."

"I was _wondering_ why you two had suddenly decided to go seriously steady! Oh my-"

"Kor, I swear, if you end that expression with a capitalized three letter word that refers to a divine deity one more time…"

"Sorry, but…Rae, you've got to admit that it's pretty wild." Kori squealed with delight. "Oh my God!"

"_Kor…_"

"Right, sorry."

"Why are you so happy about this, anyways?" Raven continued to nibble on her sandwich.

"Are you kidding me? Don't you see what this does?" Kori took a swig of her soda, grinning madly.

"Um…not really."

"It gives you leverage over Babs!"

"…How so?" Raven was beginning to find her friend's excitement rather amusing and decided that she would humor her.

"You've slept with him. She hasn't. Duh." Kori said it as though it were supposed to make perfect sense. It didn't, but Raven decided not to question her best friend's thought process.

"And how would you know that?"

"Xander told me. They're half brothers, _remember_?"

"Believe me, I remember. How can he be so sure? The way those two are making out right now is nearly pornographic." Raven hiked a thumb over her shoulder to a shady area where Dick and Babs were sharing a…passionate embrace, to put it lightly. Kori looked over and cringed.

"God, do they even eat lunch any more? I'd tell them to get a room, but I don't want to encourage them…" Raven used the silent gap in their conversation to change the topic of discussion.

"So…I guess I'm going stag to tonight's dance." Kori turned back to her friend.

"Me too. I was hoping Xander would ask me but…who am I kidding?"

"What do you mean?"

"Honey, he barely knows I exist except in Stat class, where he can't seem to do anything without my help."

"Oh, Kor, don't be so down on yourself." Raven smiled softly and touched her friend's shoulder. "I've seen his gaze wandering from the board to your face on more than one occasion in Shakespearean Lit."

"God…" Kori rolled her eyes and tried to hid the blush that was creeping onto her cheeks. "Whatever. Speaking of the dance, I still need a ticket."

"Me too." Raven reached into her backpack and dug around until she pulled out a wad of cash. More hopeful rationalization from her father. "I'm going to miss that couples discount." Kori laughed.

"Same." Suddenly, the red head looked up, as though struck by a thought.

"What?"

"…We're gonna beat the system and save some cash."

"…What?"

"We're going as a couple."

"Wait…Kor…_what?_"

"You 'n' me, Rae. Might as well, if it means a few bucks off for both of us."

"…Do they even sell tickets to same sex couples?"

"Probably." Kori shrugged. "And if not, we can always join up with the Gay/Straight Alliance Club and bitch about it until they do. We'd be scoring a victory for our gay friends everywhere."

"…You're insane." Nevertheless, Raven was smiling. Her thoughts were on her friends Garth and Roy, both of whom Raven and Kori had known since they were small. It was a well known fact among them that the two had…some kind of relationship.

"Yeah, something like that. C'mon, let's get them before lunch ends."

* * *

After miserably failing her physics test and barely passing her Shakespearean Lit test, all Raven wanted to do was curl up and sleep…maybe write a poem or two and post it on her website. Unfortunately, the heavens did not seem to be on her side that particular day, as made clear by the booming announcement over the school's PA system.

"_Attention: All students with a seventh period free, please report to the library._"

Raven clenched her fists and groaned, then reluctantly dragged herself up the steps and into what used to be her favorite building until the speaker on the PA system had forced her there. Slowly, the area flooded with assorted sophomores, juniors, and seniors who had no class in the seventh period time slot. At the center of them was the school superintendent, Bruce. A collective moan swept throughout the sea of students as they suddenly realized what was happening.

"Campus beautification time, people." It occurred at the end of every month in an almost vain attempt to keep the school somewhat clean. Almost. "I'll read out your partners and give you your gloves and your bags. You all know the drill, people." Raven had nearly fallen asleep by the time Bruce had reached her name. "Miss Roth and…Mr. Grayson."

The dark girl's eyes popped wide open, and suddenly she was all to aware of the subtle smirk Dick was shooting at her from Bruce's side, holding out a pair of gloves for her to use. Raven snatched them angrily without a word and marched outside. For a while, the two walked around the campus and weeded out stray pieces of trash in complete silence, but Raven knew that something was building in the tension. Something bad.

"So…when did you become a lesbian?" The dark girl wanted to throw a brick at her trash partner's head.

"It was for the damn discount, okay? How did you find out?" Raven spat snappishly, snatching the garbage bag from Dick with gloved hands.

"Kori was telling Xander something about it in their Stat class…said it was a good way to save money." Raven's unwanted partner chuckled. "Hey, I'm cool with your decision. Garth and Roy are my friends too, you know. I just wished I'd known that I was banging a les-"

"What is your _problem?_" Raven threw the trash bag to the floor, rounding on her unwanted partner with fury. "Why is it that you're such an insufferable jackass? Were you born that way, or is it some kind of art that you've carefully perfected over the years?"

"Well it would help if you weren't such an easy target…" Dick leaned back against the nearest wall and let the effect of his words sink in. Finally, Raven lost it completely.

"_God, you make someone want to murder you, the way you push and push and push and fucking PUSH until they've reached their limit!_" Fire raged in her eyes, and Dick actually seemed somewhat intimidated. "You listen to me, wiseass," she barked in a slightly quieter voice, "one day, you're gonna get burned. You're gonna get burned _bad_, and I hope to God that I'm there to see it." Raven stormed off without another word, leaving Dick to finish beautifying the campus on his own.

* * *

"Um…wow." Kori leaned back onto her fluffy purple pillow, absorbing the scope of the campus beautification incident. "You really let him have it."

"I had more," Raven muttered stubbornly, "but I was afraid that if I continued, I might strangle him. I don't need that on my record." She sat a little farther down on the bed. Kori had given her a ride back to the Anders residence, where they were getting ready for the upcoming evening. They'd washed their hair until it shone brightly, although it wasn't completely dried and brushed quite yet, and now their nails were in the process of drying; Raven's black and Kori's French tipped.

"Well…that's why you're here. We're just going to forget about everything and enjoy ourselves for the next few hours." Kori smiled kindly, then blew carefully onto her drying nails.

"I think mine are done," Raven commented, her eyes downcast, "but I'm hungry as hell. You got anything good in the kitchen, or have Ryan and Mandy eaten it all?"

"I…don't think my siblings have gotten to the leftover chicken feet from last night's dinner yet."

"I was actually referring to something edible…" Kori grinned at her friend.

"There's a package of Nutterbutters and a carton of Whoppers behind the giant Windex spray on the last shelf in the pantry. I had to hide them so that they wouldn't get devoured."

"That's more like it."

After an hour of munching on junk food and talking in front of the television, the two girls decided that it was time to finish their preparations. Dresses were slipped on, jewelry was adorned, makeup was applied, and hair was blown and styled to perfection. It had taken a surprisingly short amount of time to transform them from average, 11th grade high school girls into-

"_Knockouts_," Kori murmured, brushing and accidentally-on-purpose stray lock of hair behind her ear as the two examined themselves in the mirror. "We're total and complete knockouts. Raven had to agree with the summery. Her shimmering, knee length violet dress fit her perfectly in every way she would've hoped, and even matched the tips of her otherwise black hair. Kori wore her signature emerald green, her dress strappy and unique and ravishing.

They were both drop dead gorgeous.

"C'mon, Rae." Kori gestured to the door with a smile. "Let's show these guys what they're missing."

* * *

Raven and Kori strode through the doors at a fashionably late 8:15 PM. Their eyes scanned the place for familiar faces as they always did in such circumstances. A group of friends were spotted near the center of the room, dancing happily in a bubbly, laughing clump. The two girls broke into the circle and were greeted with smiles. Although Raven would never admit it, her eyes panned the room every once in a while for some sign that Dick was there, even if it meant seeing him pressed up against Babs Gordon. Oddly enough, the dark girl located Babs…alone. Well, not exactly alone (she seemed to be actively participating in futile attempts to get Xander Red's attention with Kristine Mothella), but without Dick. How unusual. Before she could spend too much time dwelling on her thoughts, Raven felt a hand on her shoulder. Behind her, Victor Stone offered his hand with a smile.

"Wanna dance, Gothy Girl?" Stone was her physics lab partner and a good friend. He did, however, have the annoying habit of calling her 'Gothy Girl,' but Raven knew it was simply innocent kidding. She laughed and took his hand.

"Sure, why not?"

* * *

A couple hours and several dances later (some with Vic, some with a boy she'd been paired with to do the previous month's campus beautification, Gar Logan, a couple with a very shy boy named Joseph Wilson who was in a few of her classes, several with a giggling Kori and another good friend, Bee, and even a few with Gar and Roy), Raven stumbled out of the school gym where the event was being held and onto the nearby soccer field for a bit of fresh air. Each dance had been enjoyable and fun and almost made the pretty dark girl forget that she hadn't wanted to attend in the first place.

Almost.

Only when she'd taken a few seconds to breathe the night air did she realize that only a few yards ahead of her were a set of bleachers.

_The_ bleachers.

The bleachers that Dick had broken up with her on.

And, strangely enough, there seemed to be someone hunched over the bleachers. In spite of her reservations, Raven allowed her curiosity to guide her forward and see just who it was that sat there. It seemed that the rustling grass gave away her attempt at stealthy movement because before she'd even taken three whole steps, she heard a voice.

"Whoever that is, leave me alone."

A surprisingly familiar voice. A voice that taunted and tormented her for its own amusement, and yet a voice that whispered answers to difficult math problems in her ear.

"…Dick?" Raven's eyes went wide as she moved forward at a faster pace now. It seemed that her assumption had been correct; three rows up on the bleachers, in the exact spot where he'd broken up with her only five months earlier, was Dick Grayson.

"Oh, it's you," he grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest defensively.

"Yeah, it's me. What's with you?" Raven chided herself for sounding so concerned. Her words were actually borderline civil, and that alarmed her greatly. She let a stinging remark escape her in retribution for her mistake. "Did your girlfriend leave you unfulfilled?"

"_Ex_-girlfriend," Dick spat with apparent annoyance, "and for the last time, I haven't slept with her. The only person I've ever slept with…" A silence fell between the two, their dual comprehension going unsaid. In an unusual act of compassion, Raven climbed up the bleachers and sat beside her former boyfriend.

"Wanna tell me what happened?"

"Not really."

"Too bad." Raven managed to crack a grin, although inside she was screaming at herself to mock and ridicule Dick with reckless abandon. "Don't make me beat it out of you."

"She dumped me. That's all there is to it. She dumped me right here, on this very step, right where I…" Another silence, but this time Raven broke it after a short pause.

"Where you dumped me. For her," she couldn't help but add. "So who'd she dump you _for_, Xander?" Dick made a noise that resembled the grunt of an angry cat, and Raven slapped a hand over her mouth. "No _way_. I was just kidding!"

"Well I don't think Babs was. Apparently, she's been hot for my half brother since we were six." Dick let a bitter laugh escape him. "At least I have the satisfaction of knowing that she doesn't even have the slightest chance."

"And why's that?" Raven tilted her head to one side.

"Because if you haven't noticed, Xander is completely in love with your friend Kori Anders. Why do you think he always pretends to be so bad at…well, _everything_ in the stat class they have together?"

"Really?" The dark girl laughed. Kori would love to hear that.

"Like I said, not a chance." There was another short silence that settled between them.

"…Whereas I got to watch you make out with some new girl two days after you dumped me. I got to deal with it." Dick looked up, all traces of his annoyingly cocky attitude gone. His face took on an almost pensive expression.

"I really hurt you, didn't I?"

"You could say that," Raven didn't bother mentioning that it was probably the understatement to end all understatements.

"Y'know, your little screaming opera this afternoon really made me think."

"Screaming opera?" Raven looked disgusted. "I prefer the term 'self enhancing lecture.'"

"Yeah, well, it kind of made me realize that…I am sort of an ass. Really."

"No shit, Sherlock." The dark girl couldn't resist the undeniable urge to roll her eyes.

"I'm being serious, Rae."

"So am I, Dick. You're a complete ass. Not to mention disgustingly full of yourself." Another silence. This one lasted until Raven's cell phone suddenly went off in her purse.

_It's a lie, it's a lie  
Don't you believe it..._

"Optimistic ring tone," Dick remarked.

"I like it, okay?" She removed the tiny, shrieking device, flipped it open, and pressed it to her ear. "Hello?"

"Rae, where are you?" Kori was on the line.

"Outside. I'm taking a breather. All that recycled oxygen was giving me a migraine." Raven glanced at Dick, who seemed deflated and defeated for the moment.

"Well get back in here! You're missing out!"

"I'll be in soon, I promise." Raven slapped her phone shut and looked at Dick again.

"You were right," he said softly, staring at the lower levels of the bleacher in a state that could be roughly described as forlorn. "You told me that I was going to get burned. And I did."

"It was bound to happen soon," Raven shrugged, trying to act indifferent. She could feel herself softening though, and that annoyed her. Unfortunately, her kinder side seemed to be dominating the moment. "But for the record, I really didn't know that it would happen so soon." She hesitated for a moment, then spoke again. "Look, I know that I should probably stand here and yell at your royal pain in the ass behavior and rub it in your face about how I was right and you were wrong and now you know how I felt five months ago and whatnot but…I won't." Dick looked up, a bemused smile on his face.

"You won't?"

"…Let's just say that I'm not up to it. Not tonight. In fact, the only thing I can really think to say is…well…do you want to dance?"

* * *

The final song of the evening was some slow, pretty ballad that Raven had heard before and never particularly liked until now. But then, that was probably just because this time, the song was playing while she was dancing in Dick's arms. Their relationship was far from steady, but they were planning to, at the very least, work on it. Over Dick's shoulder, Raven smiled when she saw Kori and Xander happily dancing away as they had been for seven songs now, and a seething Babs Gordon off to the side, who seemed infuriated by both her loss of boyfriend and failure to secure the one she'd wanted instead. Xander tilted Kori's head up and kissed her softly, which nearly caused Babs to go insane, and gave Raven an idea.

"Dick," she whispered, pulling herself slightly away from him.

"What?" He raised an inquiring eyebrow.

"We're…taking it slow, right?" They stopped dancing for a moment.

"…Yeah. Why?"

"Because, well…" Raven hesitated, than made up her mind. "Would making out kind of nullify the whole 'taking it slow' idea?" Dick laughed.

"Yeah, it probably would."

"But…what if it was just to spite Babs?" Dick glanced to the side, where Babs still stood, trying to keep up with both he and Xander.

"_That's_ your lame excuse to justify your desperate desire to make out with me?" Raven's eyes widened, and she lightly whacked him on the shoulder.

"Idiot. It's _that _cocky attitude that pisses me off so much!"

"Yeah, but it's the same thing that makes you want me."

"Shut-" Before Raven could complete her phrase, however, Dick had pressed his lips to hers, passion building between them. When they finally broke apart, Raven could feel they eyes of all her friends trained directly on her, especially Kori's. The dark girl already knew that she'd have some heavy explaining to do when the two best friends got back to the Anders residence later that evening.

"Just to spite Babs, right?" Dick breathed, smirking slightly.

"…Yeah. Just to spite Babs."

* * *

Wow. I actually really liked that. I don't know, that's how I've always seen RaeRob. If they ever became a couple, they'd be one of those constantly bickering ones…but I think deep down they'd really love each other…I don't know. Like I said, I'm totally amateur with this couple. No bashing to anyone intended in this fic! I hope no one minded that it was AU…but the only specifications for the challenge was that it be about a pairing that you don't agree with, so I think it'll do. Drop a review while you're here!

Love,  
SushiChica

PS- If I get any reviews from RobStar fans who are bitching about my being a traitor or whatever…something will happen. Something bad. I promise.


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